An appeal court, sitting in Lagos has discharged and acquitted former Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Bello Lafiaji, and his erstwhile Special Assistant, Usman Amali, convicted in 2010 by a Lagos High Court on corruption charges.Justice Olusola Williams of the Lagos High Court, had in a judgment delivered on June 21, 2010, sentenced Lafiaji to 16 years imprisonment and Amali to seven years.The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission, in 2008, arraigned Lafiaji and Amali for conspiracy and diversion of 164,300 (about N37m) seized from a suspected drug smuggler, Ikenna Onochie, in November, 2005. However, delivering judgment on Tuesday in two separate notices of appeal filed by Lafiaji and Amali, the appellate court set aside the Lagos High Court judgment.Justice Mohammed Danjuma, delivering the unanimous decision, held that the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt at the lower court.He held that no sufficient evidence was placed before the trial court to warrant the conviction of the appellants.Danjuma said none of the prosecution witnesses gave direct evidence, holding that the evidences they gave were based on mere suspicion.He added that the evidences were fraught with irreconcillable contradictions and inconsistencies, wondering why the trial judge could have premised conviction on such evidence.The appellate court also noted that the prosecution failed to investigate and prove to the lower court the actual amount that was involved in the case.The prosecution alleged that it was 164,300 that was seized from Onochie, but the defence said it was 168,300. According to Danjuma, the evidence given by the star prosecution witness, Bashir Gadzama, said to have participated in the alleged offences, was inconsistent and contradictory to those given by other witnesses.Danjuma said, "There was no evidence that this sum was received by the Bello Lafiaji, the PW1 himself did not say in his evidence that he gave such sum to the appellant."In order to secure conviction, the prosecution must prove by credible evidence the commission of the offence on each of the counts always beyond reasonable doubts. The volume of doubts created in each of the counts one to seven entitled the appellants to an acquittal on the various counts of charge against each of the appellants."The judge held that it was a settled principle of law that when the liberty of a citizen was at stake, the trial judge was bound to tilt towards the accused particularly, when the evidences given against such person were based on suspicion.This principle, Danjuma said, was in support of presumption of innocence guaranteed to any accused by the constitution.
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